Laterally flexible mine conveyer



Feb. 10, 1953 J. F. JOY

LATERALLY FLEXIBLE MINE CONVEYER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 15, 1949 INVENTOR. Jiise 11F Jby.

Arron/45y.

Feb. 10, 1953 J. F. JOY

LATERALLY FLEXIBLE MINE CONVEIYER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 15, 1949 II- In SWAN "n li I' INVENTOR. Jase ph EJZ) 5 Y:

A TTORNEY.

Feb. 10, 1953 J. F. JOY

LATERALLY FLEXIBLE MINE CONVEYER Original Filed June 15, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 e o o o O O O O O o o qo o o 0 INVENTOR. Jbse 11F J5 A TTORNEY.

' in section to show Reieeued Feb. 10, 1953 UNITED STATE LATERALLY FLEXIBLE MINE QONVEYEB Joseph F. Joy,

Manufacturing Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to In! Company, Pittsburgh, Pa a corporation of Pennsylvania Original No. Serial No.

24 Claims.

Matter enclosed reissue specification; matter printed in italics This invention relates to conveyors of the chain-and-flight or chain-and-scraper type, especially to a laterally flexible conveyor of that type designed for use in coal mines for conveying dislodged coal along the face of a coal seam.

In mining with ordinary conveyors having no lateral flexibility, it is. customary to carry the conveyor in a straight line along the face. As coal is removed, it becomes necessary to place rooi' props or supports in front of such a conveyor with the result that, alter a given iall has been removed irom the coal lace, a line of root props has been set between the conveyor and the new face. With that practice, it becomes necessary to dismantle the face conveyor entirely in order to reposition it in proper relation to the new face.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a laterally flexible mine conveyor of the chain-and-scraper type which will permit lateral movement of the conveyor toward the new mine face as the loose coal of a given fall is removed along the p n r p conveyor.

This and other objects are accomplished in a mine conveyor having a rigid drive head, a rigid tail section, laterally flexible side supports extending between the drive head and the tail section and secured thereto. and suitable means for spacing the side supports between their ends. in which the spacing means are preferably deck between the lace and 'the 2,569,004, am September as, 1951. 99.291, June 15, 1949. for reissue December 12, 1951, Serial No.

Application in heavy brackets I: II appears in the original indicates the additions made by reissue.

iace, obviating the necessity of J plates over which the flights move as they convey material such as coal along the mine face.

The side supports are preferably angle-andchannel-shaped members, and in the preferred embodiment each side support consists of an angle above a channel and spaced therefrom such that the deck plates lie in the space between the angle and the channel.

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is a top plan bodying the invention.

' Fig. 2 is a side elevation view of the conveyor. Fig. 3 is a view in section on line 8-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in section on line H 0! Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view in section on line H of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a view in section on line 8-4 oi. Fig. i. Fig. 'l is a view in section substantially on line view of a conveyor em- 1-1 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevation of a porwith parts broken away and details of the means which tion oi the conveyor ioin adiacent ends of two side supports.

Fig. 9 is a view in sect on o line t! at Fig. 6. as a patent but forms no part or this Fig. 10 is a top plan view or a portion of the conveyor chain showing onset the joints which makes the chain flexible about a vertical axis.

Fig. 11 is a side elevationview of the chain portion shown in Fig. 10.

Fig. 12 is a section through the conveyor chain [and one of the flights disclosing the feature which allows the flight a limited amount oi endwise and rocking movement.

Fig. 13 is a view in on line Fig. 12. I Fig. 14 is a top planview illustrating the lateral flexibility of the conveyor; and

Fig. 15 is a side elevation view illustrating the vertical flexibility o! the conveyor.

A conveyor made according to an illustrative embodiment of the [this] invention consists of: pairs of laterally flexible side supports 2 which are comparatively resistant to vertical bending: forces, but which are Joined together at l in such a manner as to permit limited vertical bending 0! two or more such supports Joined together end to end; a flexible deck indicated generally at i which extends between the. side supports and is secured thereto; a chain conveyor indicated generally at I, movable along the deck; and a drive or elevating head ll, provided to enable ready. emptying oi the coal into shuttle cars, mine cars, another conveyor, or the like.

Referring now to the various elements of the invention in greater detail, each side support 2 in the embodiment shown is made up or an angle having an upright arm I! and another arm it which is substantially horizontal and extends inward toward the opposite side, forming thusa projection which [consistutss] constitutes mounting means for element or the side support. spaced from the angle, is a channel member so disposed that its sides I! and it, like the arm ll, project inward toward the opposite side. The angle and channel are securely held together by means of end plates 20 by any suitable means, as for example by welding.

As is best seen in Figs. 3 and 7, each of the proiections' it, It, and II is transversely at spaced intervals as shown at I2. Between each pair or adjacent recesses 22, each projection II, It and II is resistant to bending forces in a horizontal plane, but an entire support is laterally flexible, or yieldable to such horizontal bending forces, by virtue or itsnumerous recesses".

The flexible deck-referred to above consists of plurality of overlapping deck plates 24, the

the flexible deck. Another 3 overlap being in the normal direction of movement of coal along the conveyor.

plate tapers substantially deck plate is secured bya mounting pin 28 to the inward extending projections II and It. The angle and the channel members are secured together in spaced apart relation such that the arm I! is spaced from the side It suiliciently to allow the overlapping deck plates to lie in said space. The pins 28 are preferably made in the form of rivets which engage the arm ll of the angle and the side I i of the channel. The mounting pin preferably is disposed in a spacer bushing 30 which lies in, a suitable opening in the deck plate near the edge thereof, opposite its widest point 26.

The chain conveyor I referred to above is preferably an endless conveyor of the chain-andflight or chain-and-scraper type. To accommodate the chain conveyor, rotatable members 12 and II are provided at the extreme ends of the apparatus. The rotatable member I! may consist of a hollow cylindrical member 38 (Fig. 6) engaging at its ends chain guides 38 which are provided with peripheral flanges 40 to engage the links of chain 42. As is best seen in Fig. 9, the chain guides 3| are preferably square openings or sockets to engage the square ends of stub shafts ll. These shafts are mounted for rotation in antifriction bearings located in bearing housings 48.

Each bearing housing I is provided with a rectangular boss 48 (Fig. 9) which is slidable in a rectangular recess 50 in a tail section 52 secured to the end of the last side support. A nut 54 is secured as by welding to the side of the tail section and is threaded to receive an adjusting screw it, the head of which abuts against a block 58 on screw 58 in any position to which it may be adjusted. The tail section 62 is provided at its lower edge with inward-extending ground-engaging flanges 80. Sloping chain guide plates 62 may be provided just ahead of the rotatable member 32; see especially Fig. 9.

The upper or work run being supported on the upper faces of the in- Flights 04 extend beand serve to push the The forward rotatable member 34 consists preferably of a pair of sprockets so which engage the chains of the conveyor. The lower or return run of the conveyor is supported in the channels, as is best seen in Fig. 4, wherein the chains are shown as lying between the sides II and II.

Drive means for the conveyor are provided, preferably in the form of any suitable means for driving one of the rotatable means, here shown as electric motors ll connected by suitable gear trains Ill, drive shafts 12 and worm gear trains ll. Thus. the sprockets is are driven by the electric motors and in turn drive the conveyor chains.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that a portion of the objects of this invention may be accomplished simply with a single pair of side supports having a rotatable member 32 at one end and a driven rotatable member 3| at the other end. Such a conveyor would have the desired lateral flexibility and would 1 .45 539 midway between its ends. The

provided with i the hollow interior head consists of side support members the floor or underlie the forward end foremost deck plate 24. projection 82 corresponds to the inward-extend: ing arm I 4 and serves to support the chains of the upper run of the chain conveyor. down flange or projection N is provided and is secured to the member to prevent straightening out of the conveyor chains where the conof the An inward-extending provided at the adjacentv edges [ends] of end plates Ill. Ears 8! are provided with openings 94 whichreceive bolts as. The openings 9| are slightly larger'than the bolts 86 in order to give a limited amount of flexibility to the joint.

Spacer washers 98 are placed between adjacent provide a substantial degree of lat- Figs. 10 and 11, the chain comprises links III and I, which are connected together by the usual horizontal pivot pins I06. Between two adjacent pairs of more widely spaced apart links i ll, there is disposed a pair of blocks Ill and H0. These blocks arealso secured, to links I by horizontal pivot pins I06. Blocks I08 and I'll are provided with a tongue and groove joint, the block llfl having a tongue H2 and the block I III being provided with the groove III. A vertical pivot pin ll passes through the blocks is and HI and completes the joint.

Figs. 12 and 13 disclose details of a feature which permits limited endwise movement of each flight of the chain. As is seen in these figures. the chain flight 84 is supported at its ends on tongues III, which are disposed in the ends of III 'of the flights. Each tongue H8 is mounted on a chain link I04 and is rounded as shown at I24 to permit [provide] limited rocking movement of the tongue with respect to the flight. Thus. too, the flight "floats on its end supports for a limited amount of lateral movement. Furthermore, if a flight is bent for any reason, it merely drops out of the chain.

, the conveyor chain is preferably It will-be understood by those skilled in the art that some of the objects of the invention may be realized by the employment oi only one or two of the inward-extending projections instead of all three projections l4, l6 and I8. Thus, the invention could be practiced with a single such'pro jection supporting the flexible deck which might be either I4 or ii. In the preferred form, however, the invention embodies the three projections shown for the purposes set forth herein.

Operation The operation of the chain-and-flight conveyorwill already be well understood by those skilled in the art and need not be detailed here. Lateral flexibility oi! the conveyor is provided by the recesses 22 and the tapered ends 01' the deck plates whereby the deck plates and the side supports pivot relative to each other about the mounting pins I8. The degree of flexibility is limited by the width of the recesses 2!,the angle 01' taper of the deck plates, and the distance between recesses. However, even with relatively narrow recesses and a relatively slight taper, the angle of lateral flxibility for apparatus of this type is adequate, inasmuch as it is not contemplated that the apparatus shall be used to turn sharp corners Thus, the lateral flexibility makes the apparatus yieldable to bending forces in horizontal planes, permitting the apparatus to take a shape somewhat as illustrated in Fig. 14.

As is evident from that figure, a conveyor made according to the invention can be used to great advantage, especially inlongwall mining. The conveyor is located adjacent the mine Iace right beside a fall of coal C. As the loose coal is loaded onto the conveyor, the conveyor is moved over next to the face, and props P are put in to hold up the roof. It is thus unnecessary to put a row of props between the lace and the conveyor, thus eliminating the need to disassemble the entire conveyor and reassemble it next to the face.

Coal carried away by the laterally flexible conveyor may be discharged onto any suitable transporting means, as for example a belt conveyor such as is shown at BC in Fig. 14.

With the structure shown, consisting or the rigid ends (head and tail section) and the flexible, spaced side supports, there is provided a structure [linkage] which, when deflected laterally, takes the shape of an S-curve. That shape is advantageous tor the intended purpose because it keeps the ends of the conveyor oriented along parallel axes, even though one end be laterally displaced from the other end.

Vertical flexibility, whereby the apparatus is yieldable to bending forces in vertical planes, is provided by the Joints '4, as can be seen in Fig. 15. Although each side support by itself is relatively rigid to vertical bending i'orces, two side supports joined together by the joint 4 may bend somewhat depending upon the width of the space between adjacent cars 82 and upon the distance between joints 4. Again, it is not contemplated that the apparatus will be required to conform to sharp bends but instead it is merely contemplated that some degree of vertical flexibility be provided to accommodate slightly uneven mine bottoms or other floors or ground supports where the apparatus may be used.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that this invention provides a conveyor which has a distinct advantage over the conventional rigid and unyielding apparatus which must be blocked up at various places to make up for irreg- 6 ularities in the ground support, and which cannot be moved closer to the face until the entire fall of coal has been cleared away, and then at considerable inconvenience and expense. A conveyor made according to'this invention gives the desired flexibility in a relatively simple device which is easily and inexpensively manufactured.

While there is in this application specifically described one form which the invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form of the same is shown for purposes of illustration, and that the invention may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a conveyor 0! the chain-and-flight type, a rigid drive head, a rigid tail section, laterally flexible side supports secured to the drive head and to the tail section, extending continuously between them and spaced apart at their ends thereby, and means including deck plates pipotally engaged at their opposite sides with said side supports to space the side supports between their ends, whereby lateral flexure oi the conveyor causes it to form an S-shaped curve.

[2. A conveyor according to claim 1, in which the last-named means consist of deck plates each of which is narrower at its ends than at a point along a side edge between the ends.]

3. In a conveyor oi the chain-and-flight type having a laterally rigid discharge end [drive head], a laterally rigid receiving end [tail section], and intermediate laterally flexible sections, in combination, a pair of laterally flexible side supports spaced apart at their ends by the discharge end [drive head] and the receiving end [tail section], and a plurality of deck members each pivotally secured to both of the side supports and having its relation to others of said deck members established wholly through the connections of said deck members with said side supports.

4. A conveyor according to claim 3, in which the side-supports consist oi angle and channel members having spaced slots in their horizontal arms.

5. A conveyor according to claim 4, in which the deck members consist of tapered plates pivotally secured at their widest parts to the side supports.

6. A conveyor according to claim 3, in'which the deck members consist of tapered plates pivotally secured at the widest parts to the side supports.

'7. In a conveyor oi the chain-and-scraper type having a discharge end, a tail section, and intermediate laterally flexible sections, in combination, a pair of opposed angle side supports, the horizontal arms of which are slotted at intervals to provide lateral flexibility of the conveyor, a plurality oi structurally independent tapered deck plates extending between said side supports in overlapping relation and each having connection slotted at intervals to provide lateral flexibility;

and a plurality of deck plates extending from side to side and having their edges lying in the defined space and secured to adjacent angle and channel members.

10. A conveyor according to claim 9, in which the deck plates are tapered toward each end from a point or maximum width near the middle,

and overlap in the direction of movement of material.

11. An elongated room conveyor especially designed for use in mines comprising, in combination, a frame section disposed at one end of the conveyor, a frame section disposed at the opposite end of said conveyor, an intervening frame structure section connected to said end sections and comprising elongated laterally flexible side members extending from one to the other of said first two frame sectionsand which, when said conveyor is disposed in a position wherein it is straight from end to end, are disposed in parallelism, said end sections and said intervening section adapted to rest upon and to be repositioned at will upon the floor of a mine, said intervening section also including cooperating elements pivotally connected on upright axes to and which cooperate with said parallel side members to provide a troughlilce guideway for an endless conveyor, and an orbita'lly moving endless conveyor guided for circulation along said troughlike guideway of said intervening section and along said end sections, said end sections providing guiding means for said endless conveyor at the opposite ends of its orbit, and said guiding means and said guideway serving to guide said endless conveyor for circulation in a vertical orbit, said endless conveyor comprising laterally flexible conveyor elements whereby said conveyor may be deflected laterally with said flexible side members, and said flexible side members and said conveyor being laterally deflectible into a generally 8- shaped curve.

12. A conveyor as set forth in claim 11, wherein said cooperating frame elements of said intervening section comprise a series of overlapping plates each having pivotal connections at its sides with said laterally flexible side members.

13. A conveyor as set forth in claim 11, wherein the side members of said intervening section consist of a series of frame elements connected end to end, and connecting means is provided between said sections whereby the latter may flex slightly in vertical planes.

14. A conveyor as set forth in claim 11, wherein said elongated laterally flexible side members are normally straight and inherently resilient.

15. In a conveyor of the chain-and-flight type, a trough structure having a plurality of elements providing spaced laterally rigid portions having their center lines parallel to a common straight line, laterally flexible side portions extending between said rigid portions, and deck plates operatively pivotally connected with said side portions to maintain, upon lateral flexure of said side portions, parallelism of the longitudinal center lines of said rigid portions with said common straight line.

16. A flexible trough construction for a flight conveyor including elongated laterally flexible side supports of equal overall lengths, means for rigidly spacing said side supports adfacent one end of the latter, means for rigidly spacing said I side supports adfacent their other ends, and means including a plurality of elements forming links votally engaging said side supportsfor maintaining equal spacing, throughout the length of said side supports, between all corresponding points in said side supports upon displacement of one end of said trough construction out of line with the other.

17. In a conveyor of the chain-and-flight type, a trough structure having spaced, laterally i id portions having their central longitudinal lines parallel to a common straight line, laterally flexible side portions extending between said rigid portions and fixedly connected at each end thereto, and means forming a deck over which material may be. moved longitudinally between said-side portions and cooperating pivotally with the latter, as relative lateral bodily movement between said laterally rigid portions is effected. to preclude, upon attendant lateral flexure of said side portions, movement out of parallelism of the longitudinal center lines of said rigid portions with common straight line.

18. In a conveyor of the chain-and-flight type, elongated flexible side elements forming lateral edges of a trough structure and having rotatable chain guiding elements at the opposite ends thereof rotatable on parallel axes, and means for connecting said side elements including a plurality of strut-forming elements of equal lengths extending between mutually opposite points in said side elements and having connections with the latter providing for relative pivotal movement on parallel upright axes, straight lines extending between each pair of mutually opposite points all being parallel to the parallel axes of rotation of said rotatable chain guiding elements.

19. In a conveyor of the chain-and-flight type, in combination, end sections having rigidly spaced parallel side wall portions, elongated intermediate flexible side elements each connected at one end to one of said side wall portions on i one of said sections and at its other end to the corresponding one of said side wall portions on the other of said sections, said flexible side ele- 3 ments of equal and substantially constant length in all laterally flexed positions thereof and each of said side wall portions and each of said flexible side elements being parallel toa straight line bisecting said conveyor longitudinally when the latter is unflexed laterally, and means coacting with said flexible side elements and relative to which the latter are pivotable for maintaining identity of curvature between them upon lateral flexure thereof and precluding departure of the longitudinal center lines of said end sections from parallelism to a common straight line.

20. In a conveyor of the chain-and-flight type, end supports each carrying a rotatable chain-engaging element, flexible side elements spaced laterally from each other and each connected at one end to one of said end supports and at its other end t the other of said end supports, said rotatable chain-engaging elements rotating on parallel axes, said flexible side elements in unflexed condition being substantially rectilinear and extending perpendicular to theaxes of rotation of said rotatable chain-engaging elements, and means forming spacing connec-' tions of uniform length extending between said flexible side elements and pivotally connected with the latter at pivot points pairs of which, including one with each flexible side element, lie in lines parallel to the axes of rotation of said rotatable chain-engaging elements.

21. In a conveyor the chain-moved flight type, a trough structure comprising a bottom which includes a series of plate sections each overlapping at one end an adjacent plate section and each underlying at its other end another plate section, and flexible lateral wall elements, with each of which each of said plate sections is pivotally connected at a point spaced from its own ends, the points of connection of each plate section with said flexible lateral wall elements determining a straight line and all such straight lines being parallel in all positions of adjustment of said trough structures.

22. In a conveyor of the chain-moved flight type, a trough structure of which an extended length consists of flexible side portions spaced uniformly from each other and having a bottom made up of coacting plates, each plate pivotally connected with both side portions, the distances apart of such points of connection being the same, on all of said plates, and the points of connection of each plate with said side portions being directly opposite each other, whereby said conveyor flexes substantially as if made up of parallelograms having equal bases, but of varying altitude as flexure of said conveyor occurs,

23. A conveyor according to claim 1, in which each of the deck plates is narrower at its ends than at a point between the ends thereof. I

24. In a conveyor 0! the chain-and-flight type, a rigid drive head, a rigid tail section, laterally flexible, resilient side supports extending, when said head and tail section are in line with each other and having laterally rigid portions at their mutually adjacent ends, a plurality of transversely extending strut-forming elements each having pivot-forming means at its opposite sides,'the pivot-forming means on each element in a line parallel to the lines in which the pivot-forming means on the other elements are disposed, and laterally spaced side supports with which said pivot-forming means cooperate secured to and spaced apart by said rigid portions.

JOSEPH F. JOY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent or the original patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 793,557 Adams et a1. June 2'1, 1905 1,800,428 Bebinger et a1. Apr. 14, 1931 1,917,134 Levin July 4, 1933 1,987,262 MacEachen Jan. 8, 1935 2,250,933 Manierre July 29, 1941 2,388,385 Cartlidge Nov. 6, 1945 2,512,610 Cartlidge June 27, 1950 2,525,555 Manierre Oct. 10, 1950 2,543,368 Jones Feb. 27, 1951 

